


like a story of love

by cherryvanilla



Category: Jack & Diane (2012)
Genre: Coda, F/F, Feelings, Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 07:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryvanilla/pseuds/cherryvanilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s barely living her own life anymore because it feels like a part of her is missing now – like a chunk of her heart has been carved out and eaten. Or maybe her soul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	like a story of love

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place shortly after the last scene in the film. Title and lyrics by Yazoo.

_And all I ever knew  
Only you_

__________________________

Jack doesn’t know what to expect; isn’t really expecting anything at all, really. She just – she couldn’t fucking stop thinking about Diane. She barely knows who she is anymore. It’s like she’s watching herself from the outside in. She’s barely living her own life anymore because it feels like a part of her is missing now – like a chunk of her heart has been carved out and eaten. Or maybe her soul. She wants to hate Diane for doing this to her – for making her feel like she’ll never be whole again, but she can’t. She can’t pretend it isn’t happening – that it _hasn’t_ already happened and that’s why she sends the tape, having gotten Diane’s address from her aunt. 

Regardless, Jack still isn’t _expecting_ something out of it. Hoping, yes. Wishing she _wasn’t_ hoping, _fuck_ yes. But that’s – that’s all. 

She knows it takes a while for shit to make it overseas, so it’s not like – it’s not like she’s counting the days or anything. It’s not like she’s marking them off on her calendar with big, red obnoxious x’s. Maybe that’s something she’d like to do in her mind, but yeah, not – that’s not actually happening. 

It’s a random fall morning on a Saturday when her phone rings as she’s getting ready to go to Chris’s. 

The number is – it’s got a country code. 

Jack drops onto the foot of her bed with a thunk and stares at her phone like it’s an alien, blinking rapidly. She feels a nose bleed coming on and seriously, she never fucking got those things before Diane.  


With shaky fingers she raises the phone to her ear. “Hello?” 

“Jack?” 

Jack’s heart soars at the sound of that voice, a perfect mix of confusion and innocence in every syllable. It’s how she’d sum up Diane in general, to be honest. 

“Yeah, uh. Hi. Hey.” 

“Um, hey,” Diane says, her accent drawing out the second word. “I, um. I got your. I got the package.” 

Jack knew she did obviously, but hearing it still makes her stomach dive and swoop violently. She scratches her nails over her thigh. “Yeah, uh. Cool.” 

Diane laughs softly, a lilting sound that does something to Jack’s insides. “You fixed the tape for me and that’s – is that all you’re going to say?” 

“No,” Jack replies, feeling her face heat. “Do you – do you like it?” 

“Yeah, Jack,” Diane says, voice low. She loves the way her name sounds on Diane’s tongue. Like it’s important. Like it actually means something to someone in this world. 

“Did you – do you still mean it?” Diane asks and Jack feels like her heart is being squeezed in a fist. 

“O-of course I do – like, why would I. Why would I send it if I didn’t? That’d be kind of cold.” 

Diane’s silent for a few moments and Jack thinks the sound of her pounding heart must be audible through the phone, because it’s like a drum in her own ears. 

“Well our last meeting was – ‘kind of cold’,” Diane says finally and if Diane’s heart was being squeezed before, well, now it’s being ripped to shreds. 

“I, I know. I’m sorry, okay? I freaked out. You – I’ve never, like. Felt this way before.” Jack stumbles over her words and they come out in a chaotic ramble. 

“Hey, neither have I,” Diane points out, and Jack knows that, too – of course she knows that. 

Diane sounds hurt, though. Like she wants to call Jack on her selfishness and, really, Jack wouldn’t blame her. She kind of _wants_ Diane to scream – anything would be better than the quiet acceptance of her walking away that day. 

“I’m an asshole,” Jack admits, voice hushed. “I’m – I’m such a fucking asshole and I pushed you away, yet again.”

Diane laughs but it sounds sardonic. “Is that like – a trend of yours?”

Jack sighs and falls back onto the mattress, shifting backward so her feet aren’t hanging off the end. At least her nose stopped bleeding. 

“Yeah, think it might be. Maybe I should go to school, too. Major in isolation, what’d you think?”

“I think you’d pass with flying colors,” Diane says, voice a little hard. 

Jack winces. “Yeah, I deserved that.” 

They’re both quiet for a moment and Jack thinks maybe this is it. Maybe Diane’s just – she was calling to be nice, but she’s over it all. Over Jack, over _them_. And really, she should be. She deserves so much better. So much more than Jack could even give. 

“I want you to fail, though,” Diane whispers, startling Jack out of her own thoughts. 

“You—you do?” 

She hears shuffling on the phone, like Diane’s nodding and her hair is brushing against the speaker. She can picture it so clearly in her head. “Yeah, Jack. I do.” 

Jack smiles, letting it take over her face, exhaling slowly, something unlocking inside her. 

“I wish you were here,” Jack admits. She’s said it before, but this time it’s actually Diane on the other end of the line and not Karen. This time she hopes – 

“I wish I was, too,” Diane replies, voice sounding thick with emotion. 

Jack laughs, feeling a little manic. “I, um. How’s – how are your classes?” 

“They’re not bad. How are things going for you?”

“Same ‘ole, like. Just working a lot. Trying to save some money.” 

“Are you gonna go to university?” 

“Probably not, I dunno.” 

They both fall quiet again and Jack feels stupid, thinking she must sound like a loser. Diane’s so – she’s just _so_. 

“I think – no matter what you do, you’ll be great,” Diane says and Jack shakes her head to herself. 

“And I think – I think if I were there, Jack, I’d – I’d want you to…”

Jack’s breathing hitches and she sits up a little, her palm flat and stroking down her own thigh at the change in Diane’s voice. 

“You’d want me to what?” 

“I… wouldn’t ask you to stop this time.” 

“Fuck,” Jack breathes, a bolt of desire hitting her hard and sudden, her insides tingling, body feeling more alive than it has since Jack left. “Really?”

“Really, really,” Diane says, low and reverent. 

“If I…” Jack clears her throat, her mind racing even as her fingers creep towards her crotch, toying with the button. “If I pick up a few more shifts, save up some more money, I could probably buy a plane ticket by next month.”

Diane giggles and it’s like music to Jack’s ears. 

“Or, you know, we could have a phone shag now.” 

Jack bites her lip so hard she tastes blood. “You, uh. Who are you and what have you done with Diane?” 

“I’m the monster that replaced her,” Diane says solemnly, before trailing off into more giggles. 

Jack giggles along with her, happiness bubbling inside her along with the sharp twist of want . “We, uh. Yeah, we could try that.” 

“Cool,” Diane says, the smile in her voice audible. 

“Cool,” Jack replies. “So… what are you wearing?” 

The End.


End file.
